


The Birthday of an Empress.

by DrAwesome2000



Category: Persona 5, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Birthday Cake, Birthday Presents, Friendship, Gen, Hamato Thieves Universe, Happy Birthday Haru!, Sad with a Happy Ending, Team as Family, There's Shumako but Haru is the main focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-25 06:09:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21811345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrAwesome2000/pseuds/DrAwesome2000
Summary: December 5. Haru knew there wasn't exactly time to celebrate. But her friends had other plans...***30/01/2020 UPDATE!!***
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist, Okumura Haru & Everyone
Kudos: 7





	The Birthday of an Empress.

**Author's Note:**

> I know it's quite late, but I wanted to write something for our beloved Beauty Thief.
> 
> Here it is.
> 
> Happy Birthday, my sweet fluff ball! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> ***30/01/2020 UPDATE!!***
> 
> I'm having a bit of writer's block with "Take Your Shell", so in the meantime, I chose to properly re-write this piece about Haru's birthday. 
> 
> Enjoy! 
> 
> :)

To say that Haru Okumura’s life during this year had a few important and sudden changes would be a great understatement…

After all, not any girl would find a mysterious talking tuxedo cat who led her to a strange dimension where distorted desires were manifested physically, then both meeting and joining the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Not to mention said group helped her defeat her father’s shadow so he would stop abusing his employees and finally cancel the arranged marriage he prepared for Haru. Unfortunately, during her welcoming party in Destinyland, Kunikazu Okumura (Haru’s father), suddenly became another victim of mental shutdown, said event unfortunately leading him to his sorry and painful demise.

Thanks to that, our sweet fluff ball acquired even more pressure than before. With now the future of Okumura Foods on her hands, she had to be far more careful as many people would try to “ _help_ ” her in those rough times when it would be obvious they would only do that to get something in change or trying to take advantage of her. And the icing on the cake, our heroes were suddenly blamed for Kunikazu’s death and became Japan’s most wanted criminals. 

Luckily for her, she has people she could actually trust. The Phantom Thieves: Ann Takamaki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Yusuke Kitagawa, Futaba Sakura, Anton “Bebop” Zeck, Ivan “Rocksteady” Steranko, Yoshi “Splinter” Hamato and most of all, Makoto Niijima, Morgana, and the leader of the group: Akira Amamiya-Kurusu. The latter three being a great support for her when she needed it the most, especially Akira. The thief leader helped her see she could at least trust President Takakura as well as finally break free from the arranged marriage she had with that asshole Sugimura.

Sugimura. **Ugh…!** Just thinking on that name was just enough to make Haru puke. The old Haru sure was terrified of that bastard. But now, there wasn’t a day the new Haru didn’t wish (at least for once!) she could hear his screams of pain after breaking his goddamn legs like the toothpicks they are.

…and better don’t talk to her about Goro Akechi. 

Anyway, thanks to how supportive and sincerely friendly Akira was, Haru couldn’t help but develop a crush on him. The heiress couldn’t help to see the thief leader as the dashing rouge that appeared to free her, a damsel in distress, from her oppressing chains. It was on the moment she managed to give Takakura her opinion, where she nervously tried to confess Akira what she felt for him. With clear regret on his face, Akira told her that he was totally flattered that such a beautiful, kind, refined and slightly sadistic lady like her was in love with someone like him, but unfortunately, he only could see her as a very good friend.

As the gentleman he is, Akira was obviously as gentle and respectful as he could to Haru when he told her that he couldn’t reciprocate her feelings. But he knew that said event it only lead to a massive heartbreak for the poor fluff ball.

It was needless to say she spent the whole night crying, not unlike when her father passed away…

***@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@***

**~~~December 5, 2016~~~**

The Phantom Thieves’ beloved heiress was walking through the stretch but peaceful streets of Jongen-Jaya. She took the subway since her limo driver was sick and she kindly gave him the day off. She was going directly to Café LeBlanc as she received a text from the group chat saying they were meeting again in said place. All while giving a thought on the recent events.

After Japan’s government put a 30’000’000 yen reward on their heads, Goro Akechi made a deal with them to defeat Sae Niijima’s shadow and clear their names in exchange that their group would disband for good after that. However, they already found out that Akechi planned to sell them out. They not only discovered he was planning to murder Akira, but also that he was the one who caused all the psychotic breakdowns and killed all those people via mental shutdowns, including (but not less important) Haru’s father and Futaba’s mom, just to help Masayoshi Shido with his political career. The mere thought of Akechi killing many people for something so preposterous made our heroes beyond sick to their stomachs.

Speaking of Shido, our heroes were currently infiltrating that bald bastard’s palace, making quite some progress already as they needed to find five letters of recommendation and they already got three of them.

But it was during the infiltration that something interesting (and extremely awkward, to say the least) happened…

After defeating the shadow of the president of a TV station and getting their hands on the third letter, the thieves found themselves again ambushed by another of Shido’s V.I.P’s; some menacing-looking asshole called “ ** _The Cleaner_** ” and a squad of three goat-headed shadows called **_Baphomet._** The thieves managed to deal with them quickly due to finding their weakness to Bless attacks in their earlier encounter. However, this time the fight caused the group to temporarily split, and Joker and Queen went missing. After taking a break to catch her breath, Oracle scanned the palace with Prometheus’ sensors and found them on a safe room quite far from the battlefield.

After a few minutes they found the place, and after opening the door, all the thieves froze in absolute shock for what they found.

For Mona, Skull, Panther, Fox, Oracle, Pumpkin, Diamond and Noir found Joker and Queen making out! And not just kissing. All-out sucking face! Akira was on the bed, laying on his back, his tailcoat removed and with Makoto on top of him. Both of their masks were gone. Makoto had her hands buried on the mess masqueraded as Akira’s hair. Akira had his left hand on her middle back while the right was caressing her thigh, pretty close of touching her butt. When both the leader and the advisor were caught red-handed, Akira nervously gulped while Makoto turned into a blushed mess so deep everyone thought she was either going to pass out or turn into a tomato. Panther suddenly squealed and started to bounce on the balls of her feet with a huge (and slightly disturbing) excited grin on her face. Skull, Pumpkin and Oracle suddenly exploded in laughter at the sudden discovery, the hacker taking countless photos of the now embarrassed couple. They wouldn’t be worried since they are in the Metaverse. Unfortunately for them, any photos or videos recorded by Prometheus were able to be seen outside the Metaverse. 

And if the moment couldn’t be awkward enough…

“You’re dating… Mako-Chan!? So she is why you couldn’t reciprocate my feelings!?!” As if a record scratched on their heads, everyone froze at the sudden question. The heiress’ eyes widened as wide as plates and clasped her mouth with both hands right after she said that out of the blue. The other thieves (except Fox, who had all of his focus at Joker and Queen) slowly turned their heads to Noir, whose eyes were blank, her face was just as red as Makoto, and for her extremely embarrassed expression, it was clear that in that moment she wished she could jump out of Shido’s ship right now and drown in the cognitive ocean.

Before anything else could be said and done, Joker called it a day and they all returned to the real world. Understandable since they needed to restock on medicine anyway. The couple was doing their best trying not to talk about what happened, an almost impossible task thanks to Ryuji and Ann.

And now, a whole day after that unfortunate incident, Haru was right now in front of the Café door. The lights were off, but the sign was flipped on “Open”. Quite strange, actually.

_“I really hope this is not related to what happened back then…”_ Haru though while still standing in front of the door. She couldn’t help but feel a little nervous about it. She was wondering if Makoto would exact some sort of revenge on her since now all the team knew that not only Akira and Makoto were dating, but that Haru tried to make a move on Akira. Especially given how aggressive Queen is when she is mad. 

_“No! Don’t think like that! Mako-Chan sure is aggressive at times, but she is a caring and reasonable person.”_ Haru shook her head and cleared her thoughts before opening the door and entering the café as ---

**_“SURPRISE!!!”_ **

****

“ **AAAAAHHHHHH!!!** ” Right after entering, the lights suddenly turned on and all her teammates suddenly jumped and shouted, causing Haru to shout in shock and jump, falling on her butt.

“Noir!”

“Oh my god, Haru!”

“Haru, you ok!?”

“Holy crap, Haru!”

As Morgana, Ann, Bebop and Akira helped the heiress to get up; Haru needed a few seconds to realize what was really going on in here. She found that all of LeBlanc was adorned with many colored balloons and streamers. There was bunch of wrapped boxes on the far-most table. The detail that helped the most was that there was a banner hung above the counter that read “Happy Birthday!”

“Haru, are you ok?” Akira asked in pure concern as Makoto and Bebop helped Haru to sit in a booth. Haru shook her head a little and blinked repeatedly in honest confusion before trying to speak. She was now confused for the sudden decoration in the place.

“Guys…? What… How… Why… What in the world is going on!?” At her question, Futaba shouted a “Duh”.

“Isn’t that obvious!? We’re throwing you a surprise party!” The hacker spoke in a matter-of-fact tone at the still confused heiress.

**_Surprise Party_**. Those two exact words were what made Haru put two and two together. December 5. It was…

“Are you… celebrating my birthday…?” Those were the only words she could muster at the moment.

Everyone quickly nodded, confirming the answer, which was actually quite a surprise. Haru doesn’t remember ever talking to her teammates about her birthday. Given how crazy things were going with Shido’s situation and the fact that Akira was still laying low, it would be natural they wouldn’t have any time to even consider the idea for a birthday party.

As if on cue, Makoto quickly sits next to her.

“Yes, Haru, we’ve made a surprise party for you.” The thief advisor quickly rubs her back a little, trying to comfort her while her face quickly flashed a concerned frown. “Although, maybe this wasn’t a very good idea after all…”

“What are you talking about? We totally surprised her. That was the idea!” Ryuji quickly spoke up, causing Ann to roll her eyes at him. 

“The idea was to surprise her, not scare the crap out of her with how loud you usually are.” 

Ryuji quickly fixed her a mild annoyed glare. “Like you’re the one to talk here!”

Ignoring the blondies’ usual bickering Akira and Rocksteady walked next to the table. (Well… Rocksteady had to be **extremely careful** when moving in LeBlanc due to his immense size. Hell, the mere fact that the mutant rhino actually could fit in the café was a miracle in itself), and spoke to Haru. “We know this is not best moment for birthday celebration, comrade Haru. But we heard today was your especial day. So…”

“We have been planning this little party for you for the last three days” The thief leader finished the explanation.

In that moment, Haru got even more confused than before. Her friends were planning this for some time already!?

“But I don’t remember telling you about my birthday. How did you ---?” The question was suddenly cut off due to a small thought that crossed her mind. Haru deadpanned and turned her eyes to Futaba, who was sitting on one of the booths in front of the counter. The hacker slowly looked away from her and started to whistle innocently _._

She was about to ask her if she hacked her phone (again) to find about her birthday, but Yusuke spoke first. “There’s no need to fear, Haru. We promise to give you a proper warning before we prepare another party for you”

Heaving an annoyed groan, Bebop flicked his left cheek in slight frustration. “Yo, dummy, that’s not how surprise birthday parties work! They’re supposed to be a **surprise!”**

****

“You shouldn’t be surprised by now, B. It’s Inari we’re talking about” Futaba responded deadpanned. 

****

Deciding to leave Yusuke complaining with Futaba, Mona, who was sitting on the table, kept with the conversation. “Like Joker and Diamond said, we know this is not the best time considering the situation with Shido. But we couldn’t just ignore a birthday for one of our friends; especially not yours”.

Despite being in an awkward silence for a few seconds, actually understood it. Morgana had a point; she remembers how despite the pressure for facing Sae’s shadow, the thieves managed to throw a little party to celebrate Ann’s birthday. They even managed to invite Shiho Suzui – Ann’s first best friend – leaving the blond lady crying while thanking everyone for such especial moment. 

But still, Haru just couldn’t believe it; she didn’t see this as something necessary given the current situation. She stared at Morgana with a slight hint of sadness for a few seconds before her lips slightly curled into a soft smile. Then she takes Mona, places him on her lap and gently scratches him behind the ears; just where he likes it the most. “Guys… I understand when you made something like this for Ann-chan. But, I’m actually surprised that you all bothered to make a little party for me as well.”

“What do you mean?” The tuxedo Phantom Thief asked with concern for her. “You’re one of us, Noir. Of course we would make you a birthday party”. 

Noticing the slight sadness on her eyes, Ann asked. She might have an idea of why her current mood.

And she didn’t like it. “Haru... Did you actually have **had** any birthday parties before meeting us?”

At the question, Haru’s smile faded from her face as she hung her head down a little. Not a good sign…

“To be honest…” Her tone of voice wasn’t a good sign, either. “My father was busy working in order to make Okumura Foods a successful company, so he was spending almost all the time with work, business meetings and the likes”.

Small pricks of tears started to form at the corners of her eyes, mostly of anger. The others couldn’t see it. But thanks to his position, Morgana could. And he flashed sincere sympathy and concern for her. Still, he chose to let Haru keep speaking. “Since I remember… I spent most if not all of my birthdays alone… sure I received a small gift and the usual “Happy Birthday” message from my father, but it wasn’t the same as him being here to celebrate with me. So you could say my birthdays were a tad… Unhappy”. Her voice suddenly got a tad venomous “And last year was definitely not the exception…”

“It’s because of Sugimura, right?” Haru nodded slowly at Makoto’s question.

Clenching her jaw, trying not to remember what happened last year, Haru continued. “For my birthday last year, Sugimura took me to a “dinner date” in a fancy restaurant. The food was of high quality and the atmosphere was aesthetically pleasant, that I can’t deny. But the mere fact that I had to spend my birthday with that creep was more than enough to ruin it…”

“Haru…” Futaba could only muttered in sympathy while Ryuji Bebop, Rocksteady, Ann and Makoto herself were clearly frustrated for their fluffy friend having to waste her last birthday by being forced to hang out with that asshole. 

Haru tried as much as she could, but tears started to run down her cheeks once again, more enraged than sad. A tense silence was now present in the café; the others were both sympathetic for Haru and wishing they could go to Mementos and give Sugimura’s shadow the beating of his life. Unfortunately, they had no time to do that given the Shido situation.

Knowing what to do, the thief leader broke the uncomfortable silence with a clap. “Well, that means we have to help to make up for those bad times from now on. Right everyone?”

“Right!” With newfound enthusiasm, everyone sans Haru spoke at unison. All of them determined to give the fluff ball a taste of what a real happy birthday is like. Haru lifted her gaze back at her friends and wiped the tears off her face. She smiled warmly at how considerate her friends were by making a small birthday party for her even though the rough times they’re going through right now.

The sudden sound of the doorbell causes Haru to rapidly turn her head to the door as Sojiro Sakura walks in the café. “Good evening, Haru-Chan” With his usual know-it-all smirk, he greets the birthday girl while removing his hat and putting his apron.

“Good evening, Boss” The Okumura heiress greeted him back as he walked to his spot behind the counter.

“Seems the surprise party is going smoothly, huh” He speaks to the rest of the crew as he walks to his place behind the counter.

“Da; pretty good, actually” Steranko spoke with an enthusiastic expression before turning to the blond boy with a teasing expression. “Except for part where comrade Ryuji scared birthday girl with loud shout”

“Why the hell is everyone singling me out on this!?” Ryuji asked, clearly annoyed.

Because it was actually your fault, Ryuji” Ann joined the teasing by poking Ryuji’s cheek with a finger.

“Aw, shuddup!” Ryuji just crossed his arms in clear annoyance.

Chuckling at how Ryuji was being mocked, the talking non-cat took his turn to speak. “Anyway. Now that you’re finally here, Boss, we can officially start with the --- Boss?” The talking non-cat’s speech was cut off by turning his head and seeing the middle-aged man scratching his head with a clearly uncomfortable expression on his face. 

“Um, is something wrong, Sojiro? Futaba asked at her adopted father’s current expression.

After heaving a deep sigh, the middle-aged man answers. “Look, I’m sorry for looking uncomfortable. But, I guess I’m still trying to get used to hearing the cat actually talking”.

“Again… I. AM. NOT. A CAT!” The thief feline snapped at Sojiro, clearly offended at how, once again, he was called a cat.

Sojiro just scoffed at Mona. “Well, I’m sorry, ok? Is hard not to think that when you _look_ and most of the time _behave_ like an actual cat. And now that I and Nijjima-San can understand you, is still a little weird”. 

While Morgana just groaned in annoyance, Makoto fixed Bebop and Rocksteady an equally annoyed and tired gaze. “I still can’t believe you two managed to convince us to bring Boss and Sis to the Metaverse”

As if on cue, the mutant morons raised their hands defensively. “Chill, Boss-Queen; nobody forced’ em to come with us, remember?”

“Da. If comrade Sojiro and your sister wanted to come with us to the creepy Mementos, is because they chose to”

Sojiro didn’t hesitate to join the mutants. “They’re right. Your sister and I chose to go with you to that weird world by our own will. And now we have to deal with the consequences”

That was all true. A couple of days after Akira retuned from the police station, Bebop, Rocksteady and Morgana (whom was opposed to this) had the insane idea to take him to the metaverse to properly heal him. After Doctor Takemi made a couple of check-ups for three days after his return, she found out Akira was practically a walking bruise; he had a cracked rib, a possible concussion and nasty bruises on both his stomach and his right leg. However, what impressed her the most was how fast Akira was recovering from such an inhuman treatment. Thanks to their adventures in the metaverse the physical condition of each one of the Phantom Thieves increased incredibly. Strength, Speed, Stamina, Reflexes, Endurance and Healing rate reached to near super-human levels. Simply put, Akira took 60 hours (two days and a half) to reach such recovery from his situation when an average person would’ve needed at least a week. 

Another thing is, despite their initial doubts, the cat, the pig and the rhino accepted to take both Sojiro and Sae with them so they could finally understand Morgana. After arriving Mementos, they were instantly intercepted by the rest of the Thieves and Master Splinter (who was considerably pissed at such reckless idea).

After some talking (and some nasty scolding from the half-rat mutant ghost), it was revealed that the rest of the thieves was planning to take Joker to the Metaverse as well so they could properly heal him as an apology since they – especially Queen – felt pretty guilty for their leader ending up badly hurt protecting them. Even though Splinter was still against this idea, he accepted to allow Sojiro and Sae to gain the ability to communicate with Morgana as along as it was in the entrance of Mementos and under extreme supervision.

Regaining his composure, Sojiro spoke to the thieves before going to the kitchen. “Anyway. I’m going to make some coffee; you better get the cake ready”

“Damn sure we will, Boss” At Ann’s cheerful answer, Haru tilted her head in curiosity as she saw the blond lady rapidly going to Akira’s attic-room with an enthusiastic skip. After a few seconds, she came back carrying something that made Haru gasp in surprise.

It was a triple-story chocolate cake with white chocolate frosting covering the top. There were small strawberries placed around the edge of the cake as well as a Noir-mask shaped candle on the top. And the words “Happy Birthday, Noir” were written next to the candle. Haru could just watch with a mixture of shock and happiness at such a nice gesture from her friends. Understandable since she didn’t have a decent birthday party since she could remember. Sojiro comes back with two coffee pitchers one for the teenagers and the other one with a special recipe for Bebop and Rocksteady; coffee with mud.

How the hell can those two actually enjoy their coffee with mud? They may never know…

Right after he served everyone a nice cup to each one of them, the candle on the cake was finally lit, everyone gathered in front of Haru and started singing, much to Haru’s non-stop surprise.

“ _Happy birthday to you…”_

_“Happy Birthday to you…”_

_“Happy birthday, dear Noir…”_

_“Happy birthday to youuuuuuuuu…”_

Haru remained frozen on her seat, staring at her teammates with mouth agape and eyes as wide as a deer in headlights. The song was a total cliché, their voices were barely coordinated and their tones of voice leaved A LOT to be desired. But, the intention and the familial affection they all shared for her was more than enough to make tears form at her eyes again. Knowing she couldn’t resist anymore, she covers her face with both hands and starts sobbing.

Worried, Makoto walked next to her, worried they somehow screwed up. “Haru, are you ok?”

Sniffing a couple of times, Haru removes her hands off her face, showing she was flashing a huge smile. Wiping her face, the fluff ball is finally able to speak. “I’m sorry. It’s just… I still can’t believe you took your time to make this for me… I…!”

With tears still running down her face, she stands up and quickly wraps her arms around Makoto’s waist and buries her face on the brunette’s shoulder, much to Makoto’s confusion. “Mako-Chan, I-I’m sorry… I’m really, really sorry!”

“S-s-sorry? But what for?” At Makoto’s confused question, Haru pulls away and locks eyes with her friend. A noticeable hint of regret was present on the heiress’ wide-open eyes.

“What do you mean “what for”!? For trying to make a move on Akira-Kun! I didn’t know he was already dating you! And despite that, you still helped with making this party for me!” Haru was practically a mess of regret and embarrassment considering that after such an awkward situation, their friends still decided to celebrate her birthday.

Akira walked to the girls and gently places a hand on top of Haru’s head. Both the leader and advisor spoke in a soft, comforting fashion. “Haru, none of this is your fault. Actually… it was OUR fault”.

Mirroring Haru’s regret, Makoto speaks up. “He’s right. You didn’t know. Nobody knew. I asked Akira to keep our relationship as a secret since I was afraid it would compromise the team’s dynamics. The only three people who knew back then were Mona, Boss and Futaba. And Futaba wasn’t by choice…” That last part was spoken with clear annoyance as the brunette fixed a soft “ _Niijima Death Glare_ ” right at Futaba.

Clearly intimidated; Futaba rushes and hid behind the counter. Sure Makoto loved Futaba like a little sister, but damn if sometimes she didn’t want to strangle the little gremlin for spying on them by hacking their phones and/or those damn bugs in LeBlanc. “Well, I’m sorry for being worried about Sojiro, ok!? That was one of the reasons I bugged LeBlanc, remember!?” The young hacker shouted from her hiding spot.

Makoto shook her head and returned her attention to Haru, her death glare being replaced with a soft gaze as she gently broke the hug. “I’m really sorry you had to face heartbreak because of us”

Akira joined his girlfriend with the same sadness in his eyes. “I’m sorry as well, Haru. I know I shouldn’t… but, I’ve been kicking myself quite a lot since that day. I don’t exactly regret it, but… I’m really sorry I gave you false hopes…” The leader and the advisor bowed deeply in front of Haru. Both of them though not regretting it since it was an accident, they were still sad for causing Haru even more suffering.

“Please, straighten up” Akira and Makoto did as they were told and found that Haru was again flashing a soft smile. “Guys, there is nothing you should apologize for. You were thinking about the sake of the team, that’s why you kept your relationship a secret. And I understand you don’t exactly regret this. In fact, you could say this was my fault as well. I mean, Akira-Kun was just trying to be a good friend and… I totally misread him. I… I have never been that close to a boy who didn’t want to get something from me. Either my wealth or my looks…”

“Haru…” Ryuji could only mutter under his breath. It may not be related to the current situation, but now he felt like an asshole for all those times he tried to hit on those girls in the beach and Hawaii only for their bodies. He wasn’t unlike those bastards who tried to take advantage on Haru.

Seeing the tension returning, the heiress acted quickly and continued with a more cheerful and determined tone. “But, I think I speak for everyone when I say there’s no way your relationship will affect the team. In fact, we think you two are really cute together. Am I right, everyone?”

Ryuji was the first to answer. “Hell yeah, you are!”

…Followed by Ann. “Definitely”

…Then Morgana. “I don’t see any problem with that”

…Futaba joined next. “You two are so sappy sometimes I wanna puke. But, I’m really happy for you two”

…Then Yusuke. “It is a wonderful opportunity for me to finally capture the image of teenage love in my canvas”

…Making Bebop flick his cheek again. “Don’t ruin the moment, you weirdo!”

“Who are you calling a weirdo!?” 

Ignoring the bickering, Rocksteady took his turn to speak. “As we were saying, we have no problems with you and Boss-Man being the sappy lovebirds”

“You see, everyone is ok with it!” The birthday girl quickly wraps the power couple in a loving hug. “To be honest, even though I’ve been on the team for little time, I somehow got the idea of you two being like “Team Mom and Dad”, so the fact of you being an actual couple actually fits said dynamic” She breaks the hug and fixes a determined smile at the couple. “In fact, I think it would be fair to say that if you two ever need help with anything, you can count not only on me, but on ALL of us. Am I right, guys?”

The others quickly agreed with Haru via a loud “Yeah!” At such statement, Akira was rubbing his nape with a sheepish smile while Makoto was burying her face in both hands out of pure embarrassment, but smiling nonetheless. After waiting for the heat to disappear from her face, Makoto removed both hands from her face and softly smiled at Haru. “Haru… Everyone. I… No… WE really thank you all for that. But, this is NOT about Akira or me. This is YOUR moment, Haru. This is your birthday party”

“She’s right” Akira joins in. “This is the day were you deserve to be a little spoiled. So, how about we open your presents?” With soft, grateful smiles, the thief leader and the advisor takes their turn to plant a friendly kiss on Haru’s cheek. The fluff ball giggled at such a gesture and nods in excitement and then, everyone proceeded with the little party. 

The celebration wasn’t too long, but it was needless to say it went smoothly and wonderful. Everyone in the café taking their time to finally enjoy themselves for a moment before going back to their current mission: To stop Masayoshi Shido once and for all. And Haru didn’t spend her party without presents.

Ann gave her a pink coat and a cute matching French Beret.

Since Haru was thinking in working out a little and take self-defense classes, Ryuji gave her a couple of protein bottles, pink and black sneakers and a modest-looking sports bra.

Futaba’s gift was a set of fluffy headphones that coincidentally matched with Ann’s gift.

Yusuke being Yusuke; gave her a beautiful painting of Noir readying a powerful Axe swing, accompanied by her recently evolved Persona: Astarte.

Sojiro gave her a bag of pretty expensive coffee beans and a grinder so she could practice a little with making coffee.

Bebop and Rocksteady bought her an exact replica of a modern Grenade-Launcher they asked Iwai to get.

And Akira and Makoto gave her a one year subscription for a very popular gardening magazine she loves so much.

Haru was clearly grateful for both the gifts and the familial love that came with those.

***@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@*@***

After night finally falls on Tokyo, Haru was already finding herself on her room. She was wearing a cute set of dark-blue pajamas as she walked to bed with Morgana. The non-cat said he wanted to spend the night in her house, and the heiress was more than happy for the idea as she LOVED to stay with him. The feline thief hoped to bed while Haru was already sitting there, ready to go to sleep (Morgana wished Akira would be this complaint when going to sleep).

Haru beckoned Mona to sit on her lap, he did as asked and she gave her a few gentle scratches behind her ears. “You want to know something?”

“What is it, Noir?” The cat looked up to the fluff ball and saw she was smiling warmly at him.

She kept speaking while still gently scratching the cat. “Despite everything that happened recently… I’m so glad I met you all, Mona-Chan. It was thanks to all of you that I managed to break free from those chains my own father bound me with for his own benefit. I can’t thank you all enough for all of this”

“We’ve got your back, Noir; now and always. We are the Phantom Thieves, and we always take care for our friends and beloved ones” The non-cat spoke with a comforting tone as he gave her hand a gentle lick (well, as gentle as a cat tongue could, anyway…). Haru giggled as Mona kept speaking. “I’m grateful that I met you too, Haru. It was thanks to you in great part that I realized this is where I belong… you guys are not only my teammates or friends… you all are my family”

Haru smiled sweetly as she picked Mona and nuzzled her nose with his. After putting him back on her lap, the cat asked. “So, did you like your birthday?”

“Like it? I totally loved it, Mona-Chan”

“Good. Because there’s more” Haru tilted her head as she waited for the non-cat to explain what he was planning this time. “Haru, I know I might be shooting for the stars with this. But I promise you that once I finally get my human form back, I will take you to a fancy dinner as celebration for when the case with Shido is finally over. What do you say?”

Putting a finger on her chin (she apparently learnt that habit from Makoto), Haru though for a few seconds and imagined herself in a fancy restaurant, having a great time with what she thought would be a human version of Morgana. Totally different from the dinner she had with Sugimura, and she loved the idea. Haru picked Mona again and gave him a soft, loving hug. “Thank you, Mona-chan. I’m looking forward to our…” She couldn’t help but to giggle a little. “…dinner date”

“Consider it done, Haru”

Breaking the hug, both fluff balls went to sleep. Trying to get as much rest as possible since tomorrow they will be resuming their infiltration through Shido’s palace and stop that bastard once and for all. But for now, Haru just laid on her bed, more than grateful for meeting such wonderful people even though the circumstances were quite rough.

_“Best. 18 th Birthday ever.” _She muttered to herself before going to dreamland with a soft smile on her lips…


End file.
